PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby will play in a hockey game on Friday for the the first time in more than a month.

Shockingly, his teammates are glad he's back.

Crosby was cleared to return to the lineup from a broken jaw on Thursday and will play in Friday's Game 2 of the Pittsburgh Penguins' first-round playoff series against the New York Islanders. Pittsburgh won Game 1 5-0 on Wednesday.

The doctor "was around and I wasn't sure if he would give me the OK or even consider it. I'm happy that he did and happy to be back," Crosby said. "He's comfortable with me getting hit at this point. That's the biggest thing. He has to be comfortable putting me out there. To hear him say that allows me to be comfortable, too."

Crosby will be back with Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz on a line that produced more goals than any other during the regular season, despite Crosby missing the last 12 games. He was hit in the face by an errant shot on April 30, losing several teeth and breaking his jaw in several places.

"It'll be great to see him out there smiling again," Dupuis said. "Maybe the smile won't be as pretty as before, but he'll be out there smiling for sure."

Dupuis laughed when he was asked if he expected Crosby to need time to adjust.

"No. You've seen him come back before," Dupuis said. "How long did it take him?"

Dupuis was talking about Crosby's November 2011 return after an 11-month layoff because of concussion-related symptoms. He had two goals and two assists and scored on his second shift. That, of course, was against the Islanders.

"I joke ... that I could just hold him out until a really important game," coach Dan Bylsma said.

Crosby's return means that Jussi Jokinen drops out of the top six. He'll center a fourth line with Tanner Glass and Craig Adams.

"It's very similar to what you see out of Beau Bennett," Bylsma said of Jokinen. "He's a top-six guy who started on the fourth line last game, but he does play power play, he's inserted into situations where he plays in a top-six role."

Jokinen "has been inserted in different spots and put out just for faceoffs," Bylsma said, adding that Jokinen plays well in the minutes he's given and will see time on the second power-play unit.

Bennett, who scored in Game 1, is staying in the lineup and taking James Neal's place on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Jarome Iginla. Neal is out with an undisclosed injury.